Electrical fuse wall outlet



Jan. 26, 1954 c. A. LINDTEMAN, JR, 2,667,547

ELECTRICAL FUSE WALL OUTLET Filed May 51, 1952 INVENTOR. CHA RL ES ALl/VDE/V/AM JR.

f/zwgm ATT'Y Patented Jan. 26, 1954 UNITED ES rsrsm OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates in general to an electrical outlet box andreceptacle and more partioularly to a, fuse arrangement in connectiontherewith. V important object or the invention is to provide means forready access to fuses disposed in the wall receptacles and removabledirectly therefrom for replacement. A further. object of the inventionis to provide a.- simple construction and arrangement of fuses in anelectric wall receptacle which will occupy a, minimum of space and whicheach receptacle will hold its own fuse making it unnecessary to locatethe proper fuse in a remote panel where a number ofother fusesare-contained.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedwall fuse receptacle adapted to be made of. light, plastic material andto be substituted for ordinary outlet receptacles now commonly used.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and,will be apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. l a tron-t elevation of the exposed plate of a wall. outletreceptacle for a pair of connector plugs and with fuse holding knobs ateach side of the center thereof.

Fig. 2 is, a rear elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

3 is afsectional view taken on the line 3'-3 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the Iine"44 of Fig. 1. v

Fig 5 a perspective view of one of the blade connectors; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of one of the fuse holders.

Main and auxiliar fuses are now commonly mounted in a main switch or afuse box in the basement or some other remote location so that if ashort circuit occurs in any part of the system, it is necessary for aperson to go to'the switch box and sometimes to laboriously locate theswitch which is blown in order to renew the circuit.

The present invention locates the fuses directly in the outlet box whichis being used and if an electrical device which is plugged in aparticular receptacle becomes inoperative, it is the fuse for thatparticular circuit which would be blown, it is necessary only to removethe defective fuse and to replace it with a good one and the circuit isthen restored.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a wall plate In issecured to a wall receptacle l2 in. any well known manner as by a screw14 and extending through openings, in the plate it. In the plate areinsulated plug receptacles it, having spaced openings 26' for blades 22of an electric plug 2 3.

The receptacle l2 may be made of ceramic or other plastic materials asnow commonly used and at. the bottom of the receptacle are conductorplates 26 secured thereto at opposite ends by fastening screws it orother suitable means. Each conductor plate has a tongue 36 projectingangularly therefrom and adapted] to be seated in an open. surroundingwall 32 formed as a part and extension of the receptacle.

Each wall has a rounded projection near the longitudinal center of. thereceptacle [Q and extending at the side of the receptacle is a roundedextension 34' for seating a fuse 36 therein, one end. of the fuse beinglocated upon one extremity of one of the tongues 30 and. makingelectrical contact therewith.

The. other end ore'ach fuse engages within a sleeve 38 of electricalconducting material which is tightly secured to a cap 41) having aknurled top and projecting through the plate iii to the upper sidethereof, one fuse and its mounting being located at each side of thecenter of the plate for a double plug receptacle. The lower endof thesleeve has a number of siits 3? ext-ending inwardly from the edge"tlie'reof, and midway at the opposite sides of the sleeve areprojections 44 for locking the'iuse's inplace.

A conductor blade 4'2l'1'as a lateral projection intermediate its endswith an opening M having opposite slots 45 suiapted to permit theprojections' M of the fuse cap assembly to be inserted therethroug'h',the fuse capslightly rotated and the projections 4! engaging at theunder side of the blade. This blade is of sufficient length to span thespaced openings 29 for the similar sides of opposite plugs 88, and theopposite extremities 46 of the blade are turned at an angle to extendsubstantially parallel with the openings 28 to be resiliently engaged bythe blades of a plug 24 inserted in the down openings of a plug. Each ofthe blades 42 is-supported by a partition 43 extending upwardly from thebottom of the receptacle l2 at opposite sides of the blades and having ashallow seat A l at the top in which the blades are held against the topof the receptacle.

Each cap assembly is thereby engaged below one of the blades 42 by thebayonet joint consisting of the projections 4| of the sleeve 38 and therecesses 45 in the blades so that the cap is easily removed from theoutside of the plate, and the 3 removal of the cap causes the fuse to bepushed slightly outward by the resilience of its tongue 30 whereby itmay be grasped between the fingers and removed, a new fuse inserted andthe cap replaced.

To connect the opposite contact plates with a source of current supply,additional end screws 48 are inserted into the plates 46 for engagingconductors 5|] by which connection is made through conduits or in anywell known manner to any suitable source of current connection.

With this construction, each plug is connected to the source of currentsupply through both of the fuses 36, one connected to each of the bladesfor both of the plug terminals. A similar construction may be employedfor each single receptacle plug or for a receptacle for more thantwooutlet plugs without materially changing the construction.

, The fuses are thus easily accessible for removal and replacement, noextra tools are required, a fuse plug for each receptacle is located inthe receptacle itself so that anyone using the receptacle and having thecurrent out off will know precisely which fuse or fuses to replacewithout going to a remote main fuse box.

While the .preferred construction has been described in some detail, itshould be regarded as an illustration or an example rather than as alimitation or restriction of the invention, since fvarious changes inthe construction, combination, and arrangement of the parts may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An electrical outlet box comprising a receptable having a pair ofelectrical .plug receivers with slots therein for spaced blades of anelectric connector plug, a pair of electrical fuses, means for mountingthe fuses in the outlet box to extend centrally on opposite sidesbetween the outlet plugs, a conductor blade having a perforated centralportion connected to one terminal of each fuse and having bentextremities disposed in the slots of the opposite plug connectors, aspring tongue at the bottom of the receptacle to engage one end of eachfuse, means for making an electrical connection with the tongue, aconductor sleeve at the upper end of each fuse extending through theperforation in its blade and to which the blade is electricallyconnected, and a cap projecting through the top of the receptacle andattached to the sleeve for removing it from the outside of thereceptacle to renew a fuse.

2. An electrical fused outlet box, in accordance with claim 1, in whicheach blade within the box 4 is supported at opposite sides of itsmid-portion by a partition having a recess at its outer end in which theblade is freely seated.

v3. An electrical fuse outlet, in accordance with claim 1, in which theinner end of each fuse is engaged by one end of a flat spring tongueelectrical conductor and the other end of the conductor having means forsecuring it to the bottom of the box with an enclosing wall in which themovable tongue portion is seated for protecting it during its resilientmovement.

4. An electrical fused outlet box, comprising a receptacle having spacedplug connector outlets and fuse openings at the sides of the centerbetween the plug connectors, a fuse for each of the fuse openings, asleeve for engaging one end of each fuse, a cap engaging the sleeve andex tending outwardly from the box for engaging one end of the fuse, aconductor blade for each fuse having an offset central portion with aperforation therethrough for receiving the fuse sleeve therethrough andwith opposite slots in said opening, projections from the sides 0f thesleeve insertable through the openings to make a bayonet jointconnection with the corresponding blade, means Within the box forseating intermediate portions of the blades therein, the extremities ofthe blades having bent portions located in the corresponding openingsfor the opposite receptacle plugs at one side of the center betweenthem, a spring tongue conductor secured at the bottom of the receptacleand forming an electrical conductor attachment at one end, the other endof the spring tongue connector extending opposite the corresponding endof the fuse for holding it resiliently in the box so that the fuse andthe sleeve with the attached cap at the other end are pressed from thebox when the projections of the sleeve are moved by the cap to registerwith the recesses in the opening of the blade.

5. An electrical fuse outlet in accordance with claim 3, in which twospring tongue conductors extend angularly outward from the ends of thebottom of the receptacle to opposite ends thereof where the ends of thefuses are resiliently engaged. I

CHARLES A. LINDEMAN, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent Shaul June 3, 1952

